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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435696">Passion of Pontius - Memories of an underpaid school counselor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikary/pseuds/Hikary'>Hikary</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Jesus Christ Superstar - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author Is Not Religious, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Fluff and Crack, Friends as Family, Idiots in Love, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pilate's POV, Religious Puns, The Author Regrets Nothing, international school au, schoo counselor!Pontius Pilate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:01:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,865</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435696</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikary/pseuds/Hikary</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It was just another Thursday at Trinity International School, Jakarta. Just another</i> underpaid Thursday <i>in Mr Pilate’s books, to be more specific.</i></p><p>After the umpteenth fight between the school's #1 ship, Mr Pilate is left dealing with three suspects, two missing students, and one big pile of regrets.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jesus Christ/Judas Iscariot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The haunting, hunted kind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It looks like Pontius' Thursday has just been renewed until Sunday.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This will be super short and vaguely pointless. I love my disaster boys, I love Pontius, and I love religious puns. </p><p>I had been thinking about this story for AGES. Today, they released tickets for the new JSC production at the Open Air Theatre and I could genuinely cry at the thought of seeing a show in less than a month.</p><p>All chapters named after JCS lyrics by poor Pontius.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>They don’t pay me enough for this</em>.</p><p>It was just another Thursday at Trinity International School, Jakarta. Just another <em>underpaid </em>Thursday in Mr Pilate’s books, to be more specific.</p><p>Not that the pay was bad in itself: the school was renowned for its outstanding teaching standards, holding one of the highest IB average scores in the world. Most of the pupils ended up in Oxbridge or in an Ivy League school. Pontius had always dreamed of working in a similar environment: when he was young, he didn’t have the chance to study abroad, so he made plans to make up for it as an adult. Luckily, Rome was a big city with a decent turnout of international students, which allowed him to make useful connections during his university years.</p><p>As soon as he got his license, he had started sending his CVs pretty much <em>anywhere</em>. He was ready to practice in the jungle, if required. That had not been necessary – a good thing, really, as he was absolutely terrified of spiders and allergic to a great variety of plants. He landed a maternity cover in one of the United World Colleges’ campuses, in Hong Kong. From that position on, it had been a smooth ride. UWC was just what he needed to boost his resumé. Before he knew it, he was resident school counselor in Jakarta.</p><p>Life had been sweet.</p><p>The place was gorgeous and warm, the students were a bunch of adorable nerdy dorks, and his colleagues – albeit bizarre – all welcoming. Sure, sometimes Mr Herod (the headmaster) had one too many on Friday night and had to be rescued while attempting to walk across the campus’ swimming pool, and things like that. But it was a peaceful life.</p><p>Enter the class of 2020.</p><p>In retrospective, Pontius did see it coming. The memory of their first day was still vivid in his mind. Of course, he remembered Jay more than anyone else – his defiant expression, the way he carried himself among the other freshmen, in spite of being quite small. His very first words were: <em>“I see you’re still using plastic straws in the cafeteria. Hopefully, we’ll change that.”</em></p><p>And man, <em>didn’t they?</em></p><p>Talking about retrospective, he should have also seen <em>the rest</em> coming. A taller boy had shot him the most judgemental look Pontius had ever seen in his life, before firing back: <em>“How tragic. Let’s ignore the fact that apparently you need to pay extra for lactose-free stuff”. </em>The remark had been met with a pair of thoughtful brown eyes suddenly widening. <em>“I didn’t know that. That’s absolutely shit, we should do something about that, too.”</em></p><p>Pontius wondered what Shakespeare would have thought knowing that the greatest love story of the 21<sup>st</sup> century was born out of a discussion about plastic straws and lactose-free drinks.</p><p>The 20s were wild, unrepentant and absolutely fearless.</p><p>They were also painfully aware of their own rights, something that Pontius secretly admired about them. When Maddie started campaigning for a better sex health course, she did so by filing the appropriate request form. She set up a 10-minute head massage spot outside campus to raise money and paid for the flyers she printed. When the drama teacher refused to cast a girl to play Alexander Hamilton in their spring musical production, in spite of the whole drama club being in favour, Simon wrote an entire musical about gender discrimination and performed it every day for a week, outside the main gate, with only the help of his guitar and a reluctant Peter playing the triangle to mark the most important moments.</p><p>Jay had been a different matter entirely, of course, but he was mostly a danger to himself than to people or property. Jesús Cristián Reyes Godwill couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, neither in English nor in Spanish, regardless of the situation. He could handle a mild <em>“Jay, chill the fuck out for a sec”</em> coming from a certain classmate of his, but even that did not work too frequently. Judas should have been paid to take care of his roommate, but he did it nevertheless, for free, out of a genuine desire to help him out in his daily battles for equality and justice while simultaneously keeping them both alive, and also by virtue of a crush that could be spotted from another galaxy. (Pontius was ready to deny this until his dying breath, but he watched them with the same passion he had only reserved to certain seasons of <em>Supernatural</em> and to one remarkable episode of <em>Crazy Ex-Girlfriend</em>.)</p><p>Coming to think of Judas, Pontius was suddenly feeling better: at least <em>he</em> was being paid something to deal with them.</p><p>The thing was, the aforementioned epic love story was somehow a cardinal point, a matter of the greatest importance for the whole school: because when the two lovebirds (or, as he secretly liked to call them, ‘lovebirds-to-be’) were fighting, nobody needed a reminder. Their shouting matches echoed through the school halls, across the 11 hectares of campus, up to Merdeka Square and bounced back from Jakarta’s National Monument straight into Pontius’ face.</p><p>So, here they were. Here <em>he</em> was, facing the first of the three suspects he was supposed to interrogate.</p><p> </p><p>  « Let’s make this easy for everyone, shall we? Just tell what happened. I know those two can be...<em>intense. </em>»</p><p> </p><p>Across the desk, comfortably nestled in Pontius’ poäng chair, the student just gave him a wicked smile.</p><p> </p><p>  « <em>You wish</em>. We’ve been working on this plan for <em>ages</em>. There’s no way any of us will talk. They will be locked up at least until Sunday. That’s a promise. »</p><p> </p><p>Pontius sighed.</p><p>It was going to be a long Thursday. Especially if it was going to last until Sunday.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I picked Jakarta purely because it’s where The Philosophers (aka After the Dark) takes place. Every international school is in Jakarta, if you ask me. </p><p>I am not sure this will find space in the story, but my headcanons for their nationalities are:</p><p>*Jesús Cristián Reyes Godwill (Jay) - half-Spanish, half-British<br/>*Ioudas Iskariótés (Judas) - Greek, from a Jewish family<br/>*Marie Madeleine (Maddie) - French<br/>*Simon - nobody knows exactly, his parents are third culture kids, which makes him...sixth culture kid? idek<br/>*Petter (Peter) - Swedish (don't ask)</p><p>(From my own experience, when mixing in a context where you have to speak English, everyone tends to find the Anglo-friendly version of their own name, so I just rolled with that) (I also rolled with the most common English transliteration, I have too many languages fighting in my head atm)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. What had happened & how it all began</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Enter the suspects.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am a monster for taking this long.<br/>But I’ve managed to see JSC at the Open Air Theatre in the meantime, so my soul has been saved. There were two butterflies flying together when Jesus and Judas were being dorks. One disappeared when Judas died, and when J was on the cross the other one landed on top of his head ** CUTE AF.</p><p>My flatmate is going through her 'I FREAKING HATE PETER' phase and she is just hilarious X"D So this is chapter is low-key dedicated to her rage lol</p><p>I would also like to point out that I have recently started picturing Tom Hardy as Simon for no reason, and this is my flatmate's fault as well.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>« It is in your best interest to tell me what they’re up to. »</p><p>Pontius loved the campus more than any of the other places he had called ‘home’ in his life. He thrived on that environment, making the best out of every little perk – from free laundry to complimentary filter coffee in the teachers’ common room.</p><p>Still, that wasn’t a good reason to spend the rest of his life in his own office interrogating uncooperative students.</p><p>He had tried pretty much every certified psychological technique to get the boy to talk and he was now left with option ‘D’ – ‘d’ for <em>desperation</em>.</p><p>« I mean it, Simon. » he warned the boy, in a mild attempt at sounding if not scary, at least intimidating «You won’t be going home until you tell me where Jay and Judas are. And when you’re at it, what they are plotting. »</p><p>« We’re in a boarding school, Mr P. No one is going <em>home</em> until summer break. My room is like, what, a three-minute walk from here? Might as well spend the weekend on your fancy ping pong chair. »</p><p>« It’s a ‘poäng’ chair, Simon. »</p><p>« Whatever you say, Mr P. »</p><p>« Simon, you know that, deep down, I always root for you brats. But this is serious. No one has seen those two for hours – and like you say, this is a fucking boarding school, there are just so many hiding spots! »</p><p>« YES! » Simon screamed, almost ecstatic, and jumped out of the chair to hug the older man. « Maddie and I bet a week of desserts, whoever makes you swear first wins. Maddie is fucked, there’s no way she can top this! It’s been like, what, 20 minutes? »</p><p>« More like an hour. » Pontius mumbled.</p><p>« Look, Mr P, we all dig you, too. » Simon gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder « But Jay and Judas are dealing with, ehm, <em>important business</em> right now. Something that we believe will make the school a better place. Aren’t you tired of their impromptu shouting matches in the dining hall? The sulking whenever one of them falls asleep without wishing the other good night? »</p><p>« That’s- that is not true. »</p><p>« Excuse me Sir, have you shared a dorm with them? Because <em>I have</em>. »</p><p>« ...do they <em>really </em>do that? »</p><p>« Let’s just say it is unlikely <em>I </em>could make up something this disgusting. »</p><p>Pontius closed his eyes for a moment and used that break to remind himself it was absolutely inappropriate for an adult to suggest two hormonal teenagers with an obvious case of mutual pining should just <em>get a room and get over with it</em>.</p><p>« I mean, they should just <em>get a room and get over with it</em>. Ideally, one where I am not the third roommate. »</p><p>They exchanged a meaningful glance.</p><p>« <em>You </em>said it. » Pontius pointed out.</p><p>« If you agree, Mr P, just blink twice. » Simon chuckled.</p><p>Pontius shot a quick look at the office door, before actually blinking twice.</p>
<hr/><p>« I love how you decorated the office, Mr Pilate. »</p><p>« Thank you very much, Peter. Are you comfortable? »</p><p>Peter swallowed nervously as he ran his hand over the smooth wooden armchair.</p><p>« A beautiful <em>poäng</em>. » he complimented, punctuating the last word with his Swedish accent. « This shade of grey is very soothing, Sir. »</p><p>« You’re very kind. And I believe, in some ways, you understand my point of view better than anyone else. It must be tiring, dealing with a group of high-energy friends such as yours. People like us...well, we need a break, sometimes. We <em>deserve</em> a break. Don’t we? »</p><p>« S-sure. I mean. I like my friends, Sir. Not sure why they like me back, but they do. So. »</p><p>« <em>So</em>. »</p><p>« I know what you’re thinking, Mr Pilate. I won’t say a word. I will not betray them, <em>this time</em>. »</p><p>« The thing is, Peter, that’s what you said last time. About the time <em>before</em>. »</p><p>Peter was starting to sweat and Pontius, always so humble, could not help but grinning. After wasting hours with Simon – a funny guy, but definitely not a snitch – he had suddenly realised he was approaching the whole situation the wrong way. He did not have to go for the ones close to Jay, even though they might have known more about this ‘business plan’. He needed to target the weak ones and then work his way up the food chain. Peter was the perfect start.</p><p>« And do you know why, Peter? You know why, in the end, you always tell? Because you understand this is the best thing for everyone. Now, I am sure whatever your friends are working on, they have good intentions. And I will be the first one to help them achieve their goals <em>according to the school’s rules</em>. »</p><p>« I can’t! » Peter nearly cried.</p><p>« Yes, you can. You just have to tell me what their plan is. »</p><p>« I can’t! »</p><p>« You can, Peter. »</p><p>« No, I can’t! »</p><p>« Why not, Peter? »</p><p>« BECAUSE THERE IS NO FUCKING PLAN! » Peter covered his mouth with both hands, shocked, and added « <em>Sir</em> » in a small voice.</p><p>« What- what does it mean? »</p><p>« They have no plan. There’s nothing going on. We just- » he started sobbing « We- »</p><p>« Who’s ‘we’, Peter? » Pontius pressed him.</p><p>Someone knocked on the door. They both turned just in time to see a very pissed-looking Maddie, in her pajama.</p><p>« Sorry to interrupt Mr. P, there’s Peter’s mum on the phone. »</p><p>She hold up a smartphone showing a Skype call with what looked like an Igloo-shaped cutout taped to a wall and a human figure wrapped head-to-toe in a tick blanket, with a stuffed polar bear in one hand, the other blindly waving at the space in front of them.</p><p>« I did not say a word! » Peter sniffled, then he took the phone and ran out of the office, all the way while whispering <em>‘I did not, Simon!’</em> to the phone.</p><p>Stunned, Pontius allowed Maddie to shut the door behind her classmate and take a seat on the poäng.</p>
<hr/><p>They had been staring at each other for a while, in perfect silence, when Pontius was suddenly struck by a realisation.</p><p>« I thought Peter had two dads? »</p><p>« He does. They’re lovely. We met them last winter break. »</p><p>Maddie smiled innocently, as if this was all making perfect sense to her.</p><p>« Maddie, I beg you. We all want to go to sleep. »</p><p>« Why? It’s almost time for breakfast! »</p><p>She sounded so genuinely cheerful that, for a moment, Pontius forgot she was the evil mastermind behind the trio of suspects. She had obviously came to the rescue, knowing Peter could not be trusted with anything more important than a can of tuna. The cheap one, in flakes.</p><p>« I just need to know they’re okay. »</p><p>« Oh, sure. They’re okay. Can I go now? »</p><p>« Very funny. »</p><p>« That is what you said, Mr P! »</p><p>« If they’re outside the campus they could be in dang- »</p><p>« Fine, you old grump. They’re not outside the campus. »</p><p>« And what are they doing that require a whole day? »</p><p>« A whole day? Who said they’ll be busy for a day? »</p><p>« Well, nobody saw them today, so. »</p><p>« Bold of you to assume you’ll see them tomorrow. » she giggled.</p><p>« Maddie. I am serious. »</p><p>« They should have enough food. I guess? Definitely water, though. They cannot last three days without water. »</p><p>« Three- <em>what?! </em>»</p><p>« Oh, so Peter did <em>not</em> betray us, for a change. I am impressed. »</p><p>« He said <em>they</em> have no plan. Wait, does it mean as opposed to <em>you?</em> <em>You </em>have a plan? »</p><p>Maddie kept smiling.</p><p>« Oh my God. What have you done to them? »</p><p>« Nothing permanent. »</p><p>« What the fuck is that supposed to mean and yes » he checked the time « You have just won a week of desserts. »</p><p>« Hooray for apple crumble. »</p><p>« Maddie. I. Am. Serious. »</p><p>« Look, here’s the thing: are you paid – hopefully a lot – to take care of our young, troubled minds and provide us with guidance, even when all you would like to actually say when it comes to Jay and Judas is to <em>get a room and get over with it?</em> Yes, you are. Does it mean that advice would be wrong? No, it doesn’t. »</p><p>« I am not following. »</p><p>« Oh, we just locked them up somewhere and we won’t let them out until Sunday. It seemed like enough time to confess their feelings and all that stuff. »</p><p>« I cannot believe three smart people like you have come up with such a stupid plan! »</p><p>Maddie raised an eyebrow.</p><p>« <em>Fine</em>. I cannot believe two smart people like you, plus Peter, have come up with such a ridiculous plan. »</p><p>« Much better. »</p><p>Pontius fought the urge to bang his own head against the wall.</p><p>« Anyway, you know why we decided to make me go last? »</p><p>« <em>I </em>decided who question first. »</p><p>« Yeah, sure, if that is how you like to remember it. Still, do you? Because we all know that, if it comes down to it, I can just sit here and say nothing until the end of time. I won’t need to eat or drink or pee – which makes sense, if I don’t drink. For <em>hours</em>. Maybe days, who knows? »</p><p>« No. » Pontius stood up and started pacing up and down the office, his palms sweating « No, no, no. I am so not doing this. I’ll send you to Headmaster Herodes, that’s what I’ll do. »</p><p>« Sure. I quite fancy a walk to the swimming pool. So he can offer me a drink, then suddenly remember I am a minor under his care, panic, and send me back to you. Which, statistically speaking, is exactly what he does every time you persist on sending Jay to him. »</p><p>Pontius could not find any reasonable objection. The Headmaster was a good man, if you overlooked most of his personality and were not a light sleeper, but he was just not cut out to work with teenagers. In retrospective, making him Headmaster of a boarding school had not been the smartest decision of all times. It could have been worse, though. He could have been appointed school counselor.</p><p>« Maddie, I need you to be straight with me. »</p><p>« The best I can do is a 2.5 on the Kinsey scale, you’ll have to work with that. »</p><p>« Oh, I didn’t know you could use decimals in the K- Maddie! Not the point! <em>Focus! </em>»</p><p>« Alright, alright. »</p><p>« If you can guarantee they are safe and fine, maybe, and I say <em>maybe</em>, I could recognise the benefits of them going through their relationship issues and allow them some privacy until Sunday. »</p><p>« I swear, Mr P. »</p><p>« Swear on you life that nothing will happen to them. »</p><p>« ...any chance can I swear on Peter’s? »</p><p>« <em>Marie Madeleine</em>. »</p><p>« Fine, fine. “Nothing will happen” is just a bit generic. I cannot guarantee that. What if one one them hits a piece of furniture with their little toe? What if they decide to have wild kinky sex and get injured? How is that <em>my </em>responsibility? »</p><p>« You know what. I think you need to go and we shall discuss this, let’s say, <em>never</em>. I did not notice they were missing, you guys have never been to my office. Shall we say, nobody says a thing and you just mail me the date of the wedding? No need for a plus one, I am now more than ever determined to die alone. »</p><p>And with that, Pontius opened the door and invited Maddie to leave.</p><p>« Sounds great to me. Thanks Mr T, we knew you’d understand! Are you coming to breakfast or are you off to bed? »</p><p>« Frankly, I think I am calling <em>my</em> therapist. »</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Do you have tuna flakes outside the UK? I hope not XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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